A Texas judge dismissed part of a criminal indictment against U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay on Monday but upheld other charges that will put the powerful Republican lawmaker on trial for money laundering. State Judge Pat Priest dismissed conspiracy charges against DeLay and two co-defendants, saying the actions were not a crime at the time DeLay was charged with violating them.But Priest upheld the money laundering charges against DeLay, who was forced to step down as House of Representatives Majority Leader in September when he was first indicted for his role in the Texas campaign financing controversy.Kevin Madden, a spokesman for DeLay in Washington, portrayed Priest's ruling as a legal victory for the congressman, who has denied any wrongdoing."The court's decision to dismiss a portion of Ronnie Earle's manufactured and flawed case against Mr. DeLay underscores just how baseless and politically motivated the charges were," Madden said. Earle is the prosecutor who brought the ... http://news.yahoo.com

The former members of the bipartisan 9/11 commission gave Congress and the president a report card Monday heavy in B's, C's and D's -- with five F's -- saying the nation was ill-prepared for another terrorist attack."Four years after 9/11 it is scandalous that police and firefighters in large cities still cannot communicate reliably in a major crisis," said Thomas Kean, the Republican who was chairman of the commission. "It is scandalous that airline passengers are still not screened against all names on a terrorist watch list. "It is scandalous that we still allocate scarce homeland security dollars on the basis of pork barrel spending, not risk." ...http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/05/911.commission/index.html?section=cnn_us

The Army dropped murder charges Monday against an officer accused of giving two soldiers in his platoon permission to kill Iraqi civilians. Second Lt. Erick Anderson, 26, of Twinsburg, Ohio, could have gotten life in prison if convicted. All charges were dropped after an Army investigator who presided over a two-day hearing last month recommended that Anderson not face a court-martial.Anderson was a platoon leader in an infantry regiment in August 2004. Four men in his 36-member platoon were convicted of murdering unarmed Iraqis during operations near Sadr City. In statements to Army investigators, two soldiers said Anderson gave them the go-ahead to kill civilians, including in one incident described as a "mercy killing." ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-12-05-charges-dropped_x.htm?csp=34

Watching the Saddam Hussein trial at home on television, Jinan Mushrif said she got chills of pride Monday when she saw the ousted leader and a co-defendant chant, "Long live Iraq, long live the Arab state." "These are the real men of Iraq, not those who hide behind their bodyguards," the 49-year-old Baghdad housewife said with a laugh. Saddam's repeated outbursts at the third session of his trial on charges of mass murder found a receptive audience among some Sunni Arabs, tapping into Sunni resentment of the new order in Iraq, in which their once-ruling minority community is now dominated by the Shiite Muslim majority and the Kurds. Mushrif's son, Ziyad Tariq, stayed home from work at his auto parts shop to watch the trial. He believes the trial is a sham intended to boost support among followers of the Shiite leadership. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1375153&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

A Palestinian suicide bomber has killed five people and injured dozens in the Israeli coastal town of Netanya. The bomber attacked the Sharon shopping centre, the scene of previous bombings, at about 1130 (0930 GMT), injuring some 40 people, several of them seriously. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility for the attack and released a video of the bomber. Israeli security officials are due to meet later in the day to discuss possible responses to the attack. Reports quoting military officials say they will recommend air strikes targeting militant leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has also asked the legal authorities for permission to renewal the controversial policy of demolishing suicide bombers' homes. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4498862.stm

A powerful earthquake has hit eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, near Lake Tanganyika. An aid worker said some children were trapped under collapsed roofs near the quake's epicentre, which was some 55km south-east of Kalemie, in DR Congo The shocks were felt in Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda, and by the Indian Ocean. Hundreds fled in panic from offices in the Kenyan capital. The quake hit with a 6.8 magnitude at 1219GMT, the US Geological Survey said. The epicentre was about 13km (8 miles) underground, the USGS said, some 975km (600 miles) south of Nairobi. East Africa's Great Rift Valley runs along a geological fault line, but has largely escaped major quakes in recent years. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4499938.stm